valentini · 61-69, M
I think , at its basis, it's a media creation. Epidemic, pandemic, blockbuster, bombshell, "if not when" "the new normal" and such. They get bored with reality even though there's plenty to go after that actually matters to people but might entail some risk. So they take, maybe a kernel of truth e.g. young people dating less, (hey social trends come and go all the time) and use it the way a screen writer would use it as a plot device in a movie.



